5 Bold predictions for the rest of 2022 college football season

3. 2022 College Football Heisman will go to Penix, Williams or Stroud

Through the first three weeks of the college football season, the Heisman Watch is heating up after some stellar performances.

Reigning Heisman winner Bryce Young is playing extremely well this season but didn’t respond as well as some might have hoped in a nail-biter vs Texas early in the season.

• Michael Penix Jr., Washington: 1,079 passing yards, 10 TD, 1 INT
• Caleb Williams, USC: 874 yards, 8 TD, 0 INT
• CJ Stroud, Ohio State: 941 yards, 11 TD, 0 INT

To win the Heisman, you’ve got to have a signature game (sometimes multiple games) to separate yourself from the crowd.

So far, Penix has at least one. He had a huge game vs No. 11 Michigan State, throwing for 397 yards, 4 TD, and 0 INTs in the big upset win. Because the Huskies have a fairly weak schedule, he’ll have to maintain his level of play and absolutely crush No. 15 Oregon on Nov. 12 to have a decent shot at the trophy.

Stroud recorded 223 passing yards, 2 TD, and 0 INTs in the big season opener vs (then-ranked No. 5) Notre Dame. He’ll likely need to ball out against Penn State and/or Michigan.

Williams had a stellar game against conference foe Stanford. He completed 20 of 27 passes for 341 yards, 4 TD, and 0 INTs. What he does against the Utes later in the season may determine his chances to win the Heisman.

5. Notre Dame misses out on a bowl game for the first time since 2016

Knowing what we do about the Fighting Irish, their roster, and their remaining schedule, this is not a team that’s a lock to make a bowl game this year.

To become bowl eligible you basically have to be 6-6 or better. So, Notre Dame will basically need to go 5-4 the rest of the way to make sure they go to a 2022 bowl game.

Notre Dame is currently 1-2 on the season and I just don’t know if I see five more games on the schedule where the Irish are the clear favorites in the game.

The Irish can beat UNLV, Syracuse, Navy, and Boston College. That should get them to five wins. They’ll have to win at least one of the following: at UNC, vs No. 19 BYU, vs Stanford, vs No. 5 Clemson, and at No. 7 USC.

It’ll help that most of these key games will be at home. But, in the end, with a backup quarterback and just all-around poor play to start the season, I don’t think the Irish will be able to get to six wins this season and will be sitting at home this bowl season.